Michael spelman



(N0 Model.)

I M. SPBLMAN.

GAR GOUPLING. No. 330,166. Patented Nov. 10, 1885.

WITNESSES:

L f y l i nire @rar-rsi garni* muon.

MICHAEL SPELMAN, OF SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA.

CAR-COU PLI'NG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 330,166, dated November10,1885. Application filed April :'23, 1885. l Serial No. 163,189. (Nomodel.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, MICHAEL SPELMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Shreveport, in the parish of Caddo and State of Louisiana,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Couplings, ofwhich the following is a description.

My invention is an improvement in the class of automatic couplings inwhich the draw-head is provided with a device for guiding the link intothe cavity to enable it to engage with the coupling-pin.

My improvement consists in the construction and arrangement of a devicewhich serves as a link guide and supporter, and in the combinationtherewith of devices employed for holding it in either of the twopositions required for fulfilling its double functions.

ln accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of a draw-head towhich my improvements are applied. Fig. 2 is a lengthwise section ofthedraw-head. Fig. 3is a side view of the draw-head, representing amodification. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the link guide andsupporter.

The chamber or cavity of the draw-head A is open at the bottom. Withinit is pivoted the device B, which performs the functions of a link-guideand link-supporter. It consists of an elongated metal block having abifurcation or 'il-shaped recess, c, in its front end. It is supportedhorizontally (by means of devices that will be presently described) andpivoted at the rear end at a point, X, below the middle plane or angleof the bifurcation. The upper jaw, b, forming one side of the latter, isnotched to accommodate the pin C. The lower jaw, c, is longer than theupper one, and extends forward and downward at an angle of aboutforty-Eve degrees, to adapt it to serve as a guide for the link of anopposite drawhead-that is to say, if the other draw-head be lowerorhigher than that shown, its link, striking the surface of the jaw c,will slide upward thereon into the angle of the jaws, which being abovethe pivotal point X, the device B is tilted upward until the pin Cpasses through the link and enters a hole in the lower jaw, c, thuseffecting the coupling automatically.

The downward movement of the front end of device B is limited by itslateral arms e e, that project through the oblique slots f, formed inthe sides of the draw-head. When thrown down or inclined, as shown bydotted lines in Fig. 1, it is held steady by friction of the arms e ewith Springs g g, arranged on the sides of the draw-head in nearlyvertical position. These springs are secured at the top, and as shown inFig. l their lower ends slide free in loop-guides h h; but as shown inFig.

3 these guides are dispensed with and pins t' placed in front of thesprings a short distance below their upper ends.

When the device B is raised to its normal horizontal position, the armse slide up over the inclines or beveled shoulders formed on the springsg g and rest thereon, as shown in Figs. l and 3, so that said device issupported until again forced down into the inclined position. Vhen thushorizontal, the device B will hold a link extended, as shown in Fig. 2,in readiness to enter an opposite draw-head.

Plate-springs 7c are arranged to press downward on arms e e when thedevice is in its normal position, for the purpose of holding it steadyas practicable.

lt will be noted that the springs g are extended above the draw-head x.Rods or any other suitable device may be attached to such extensions forthe purpose of operating the springs from the top or side of a car, theybeing in such case converted into levers, of which the rod that connectsthem is the fulcrum. By pulling on the rod attached to the extensionsthe lower ends of the levers are thrown forward, thus allowing thedevice B to drop into the position shown in dotted lines.

Any suitable device may be employed to raise the pin C for the purposeof uncoupling, or it may be raised by hand in the usual way.

Vhat l claim is- 1. The combination of the following elements, to wit:the draw-head A, having the cavity specified, the device B, having abifurcation in its front end, the lower jaw, c, of which is extendedforward beyond the upper one and curved or inclined downward on itsupper side, and means for supporting said de- IOO vice so that the angleof its .bifurcationv is thearms eefprojecting laterallythrough slotsabove the pivot, as shown and described, to inthe draw-head, as shownand described. operate as specified. 4. The combination of thedraw-head, the I 5 2.V The combination, with recessed drawdevice B,pivoted and having lateral arms 5 head, of the block B, pivoted withinit and projecting through the sides of the latter, and provided with arecess in its front end, arms the springs g g, extended above theirfuicrum, plojectinglaterally from the b1ock,and springs as and for thepurpose specified.

arranged for acting on said arms substanv tially as shown and described.Y MICHAEL SPELMAN' Io 3. The springs g, having inclines or beV-Witnesses:

eled shoulders, as speeied, in combination R. T. VINSON,

with the recessed and pivoted block B and J. S.. YOUNG,

